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Seattle Area Transition to PSERN Successful: The Wave 2A Seattle Area transition occurred on March 28, 2023. Seattle Fire and Seattle Police are now using the new digital PSERN emergency radio system, along with others in the Seattle area! Interoperability between those agencies who have transitioned and other agencies remains intact and Dispatch Centers can guide public safety if mutual aid is needed.
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Radio Deployment Preparation: If your agency has not yet received radios, please prepare by reviewing the Radio Deployment Preparation Checklist. To access training resources for your staff, please contact PSERN-INFO@kingcounty.gov.
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Public Safety DAS Shutdown Dates: Properties in North and South/Southeast King County that have public safety DAS need to prepare to disable their equipment on their assigned date. Exact dates will be provided directly to properties. Review the DAS Migration Process for more information.
A major PSERN Project milestone was met when Seattle Area agencies successfully transitioned from the legacy emergency radio system, KCERCS (King County Emergency Radio Communications System), to the new digital PSERN (Puget Sound Emergency Radio Network) radio system on, March 28, 2023:
- Wave 2A Agencies included: Seattle Fire, Seattle Police, King County Metro/Sound Transit Police, UW Police, and other public service agencies operating primarily inside the City of Seattle limits.
- They are now using PSERN to support their daily operations.
The transition of Seattle-based “general government” radio users, known as Wave 2B, is still in process. This includes several City of Seattle departments, such as the Seattle Center, Parks, and the Department of Transportation. Also, although public safety agencies throughout King County have interoperability capabilities regardless of whether they have transitioned or not (due to support from Dispatch Centers), deployment of portable (handheld) radios to public safety agencies outside of Seattle is still in progress, but nearing completion.
Public safety agencies based outside of the City of Seattle will not transition to PSERN for daily operations until they have all their mobile (vehicle) and control station (desktop) radios in Wave 3 or Wave 4. Those agencies have the ability to utilize digital PSERN channels/talkgroups if required for mutual aid with agencies who have already transitioned.
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The following Project schedule is subject to change, but is accurate as of 4/13/2023:
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Radio Deployment & Transition: January 2022 - June 2023*
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Full System Acceptance: December 2023
* Some radios and users may need to transition to PSERN later in the summer.
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The PSERN Project has been very busy preparing radios for distribution and exchange with agencies throughout King County! The following is the status per wave grouping as of April 7, 2023:
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Wave 1 (SPU & Sound Transit Operations – Link Light Rail): COMPLETE
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Wave 2 (Seattle Area Public Safety/Public Safety Portables): Public safety agencies throughout King County received over 6400 portable radios in the first quarter of 2023 thanks to the great collaboration of many PSERN stakeholders working closely together, especially the City of Seattle and King County Radio Shops! Agencies who transitioned in Wave 2 have their mobile (vehicle) radios and over 1280 (almost 90%) of the total Seattle area mobiles have been deployed. Additionally, over 120 control stations and consolettes were installed at various Seattle area agency locations. Some “general government” agencies that operate primarily in Seattle have been reassigned to Wave 3 or Wave 4 based on region-wide interoperability needs. These include agencies such as the King County Department of Natural Resources (DNRP), and hospitals, who have been notified about the details of the change directly.
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Wave 3 (South of I-90 Agencies): Over 910 mobile radios (over 50%) have been installed in the South of I-90 public safety vehicles. The PSERN Project now has multiple installation depots working in South King County and PSERN is aiming to install the remainder of the south area mobile radios by the end of May.
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Wave 4 (North of I-90 Agencies): Some public safety portable radios were deployed prior to the March 28th Wave 2A Transition Date and the remaining portable radios for North/East of I-90 (Bellevue, Mercer Island, Redmond, and others) are expected to be exchanged in the late spring.
Most non-public safety agencies – such as schools, emergency management, hospitals, administrative departments, city/county council elected officials, and utilities – will be receiving their new radios in Wave 3 and Wave 4. To support these agencies, the notification and training contacts will be invited to virtual Radio Deployment meetings beginning the week of April 17th. These sector-specific meetings will review the process for agencies scheduling the exchange of their old KCERCS 800 MHz analog radios with PSERN and other deployment preparation tasks. Information related to how those agencies will transition from analog to digital channels/ talkgroups, will be provided separately. If you have questions or need access to radio training resources, please contact PSERN-INFO@kingcounty.gov.
The PSERN Operator continues to move forward on preparing operations and below is an overview of startup activities in the first quarter of 2023:
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Increasing Staffing: The PSERN Operator is currently recruiting an Accountant to join its Finance and Administration team. Plans are also being developed to transition technical staff from the PSERN Project and King County Radio Communications Services to the PSERN Operator team.
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Operational Support Processes: PSERN Operator staff are in the process of implementing new IT systems, tools, and processes to support the operations of the radio system and provide a high level of service to PSERN users.
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DAS Design Review Shifts to Operator: As of April 2023, the PSERN Operator took over handling the public safety DAS design review for new construction and retrofits. Previously, the KCERCS radio system managers, the City of Seattle, and King County Radio Shops performed that responsibility. If you have any questions, please contact DAS-PSERN@kingcounty.gov.
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Preparing 2024 Budget & Subscriber Rates: PSERN radio system service fees are expected to begin in January 2024 and are planned to be approved at the June 2023 PSERN Operator Board Meeting. The Operator Board discussed the estimated PSERN Subscriber Rates (page 26) in Fall 2022. Agencies can review estimated rates for planning purposes but note that they are subject to change. The PSERN Operator Finance Department is planning to reach out to each individual agency about their specific rates beginning in June. Please direct questions to PSERN Operator Finance Director, Tracy Plouse at TPlouse@kingcounty.gov.
If you have any general questions about startup activities, please contact the PSERN Operator at PSERN-Operator@kingcounty.gov.
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